The Bixslade valley is packed with the industrial history of the Forest (mines, quarries, tramways, disused mine shafts and adits and a monument to a mining disaster) and still houses a working mine, worked by Freeminers. This project will create a Geocache adventure trail telling the story of the industrial heritage and Freeminers.
(This project is still being developed so it is not live yet.)
Although there is already a Bixslade trail leaflet, this geocache trail will bring a new audience as it could be downloaded to a mobile phone in IOS or android systems and be on the geocache.com website as well as the Forestry Commission website. The download will contain the GPS grid reference of the caches and the clues to find the caches along with the story of the Freeminers and the route.
Each cache would provide a clue to the next cache and some information about the Freeminers story, using sites relating to the various mines, tramways, monuments and quarries to weave a story that will depict the industrial heritage and the life that was once common in the Dean.
This will help bring the Freeminers traditional practices to life and encourage people to find out more, linking to 'The Future of Freeemining' project and the Hopewell colliery underground tour.
Why not volunteer to help clear and maintain the trail. Or if you’re a keen Geocacher, or fancy having a go, why not help set up the caches.
You might be surprised what you find!
From creating habitats for our wildlife or improving our waterways, to recording oral histories or finding old photos, there’s always something going on to get involved in!